A Conversation with Ana Mollinedo Mims author of Keeping the Faith Q. We’ve all heard a lot about the role Faith and God play throughout American culture. What, exactly, is the connection between God and our spiritual beliefs and what we do to put food on the table and pay the rent? A. The answer to that question depends on what we individually believe. I believe that the connection between God and what we do for a living is fundamental to life. The premise of Keeping the Faith is we were created by God, which is a personal belief of mine. So if we start from this belief that God did create us, we are led to ask “Why?” The “why” is our purpose on earth. We become aware of our innate skills and talent, which ultimately lead us to pursue what we do for a living. Q. Most of us have been taught to separate our personal beliefs about God from our careers, especially if what we do has nothing to do with religion. How do you see Keeping the Faith bridging this long engrained separation? A. Many of us have in fact been told to separate God from our daily lives. We are taught to put God in a box that we only open on Sunday morning. We are taught to keep our careers separate, as that is an arena where we call the shots, and if we are lucky those shots pay off. In Keeping the Faith, I advocate for establishing a relationship with God that is interactive, like any other relationship we have with any other person—a relationship where we speak to Him and listen, where we seek and find, and where we ask and receive. Keeping the Faith is full of examples from my own life and the lives of others sharing how they set aside a “religious” view of God and approach Him as savior, friend, and confidante. Through this relationship, I believe we find purpose. Luck has nothing to do with it. Q. Does one need to be a Christian to appreciate your book? A. I believe anyone who is looking to be challenged and see God from a fresh new perspective can appreciate Keeping the Faith. I think Keeping the Faith will resonate with people who perhaps do not see themselves as “religious” because the book addresses the belief that every one of us have a spiritual compass within us, which directs towards God, whether we realize it or not. Q. How does a strongly held notion of spiritual faith actually help a person move forward in his or her career? A. A strong faith knowing that God has a larger purpose for us will naturally lead us to ask “Well then, what is that purpose for me?” after asking ourselves this question, we begin to ask and analyze our career choices and how we spend the majority of our day. I think this belief that we are created with purpose, makes us less likely to squander what we do with our time. Q. Have you ever had to compromise your personal spiritual beliefs at work? And if so, how? A. We never “have to” do anything. No supervisor at work or person anywhere can ever force us to do anything. We compromise because of fear—we fear being ridiculed or embarrassed, we fear being excluded, we fear retribution, we fear losing our jobs. I think at one time or another we all compromise what we believe in one way or another. I have found myself compromising by not speaking against something when I should have, by staying somewhere I should not have been to begin with; I’ve compromised when I have found myself listening to gossip and enjoying the “dirt,” and when I let others thoughts about people and situations shape my perception instead of exploring for myself. Q. From a professional standpoint, do you believe it is wise to share with co-workers or superiors that you are making work-related decisions based on your faith? Is that, in fact, professional at all? A. First of all, business decisions need to be made based on sound business reasoning and facts. As a professional, I pray everyday for God to guide my decisions, and lead me in the direction I need to go to find answers to problems I face. Having said that, I have never created a PowerPoint where the end conclusion was that “God told me to do it.” However, after the people in my work environment get to know me on a more personal level, through conversation, we learn about each other’s beliefs, and in terms of ethics and morals they understand that my faith will shape those issues. I believe that wisdom in a work environment would dictate that we share our beliefs when asked. Q. Can you describe a time when you have not abided by your faith principles and what the consequences were? A. Each of the principles outlined in Keeping the Faith come with personal examples of how I have blown it in that area at one time or another. One example that stands out is my tenure as a workaholic. My time and life were consumed by work and career. Sure, I went to church on Sundays when I wasn’t traveling for work, but beyond that I scheduled everything around work; after all, I had to make a living—at least that is what I told myself. My friends were primarily people from work, 98% of my trips were work related, even if I did manage to work some personal time in. The consequences were at first physical and health-related—I had walking pneumonia twice—and later they were emotional. I was rarely emotionally available to anyone; friend or family, my person was present but my thoughts were always on the next work things I had to do. Most importantly, my personal one-on-one time with God suffered because I was too busy keeping myself busy. I prayed less, reflected less, etc. And of course that lead to making more work-centric decisions and less God-centric decisions. Q. Does God really care if we’re late to work or rude in an email exchange? A. Being late to work, being rude in an email, cheating on our taxes, or whatever the issue is, betray deeper sentiment that something is not right with the attitude in our hearts. I think that God cares how we act, especially if we call ourselves Christian.